Just
by Not So Gallant Gallade
Summary: A young man experiences Cobalion's misanthropy firsthand after a wrong-place wrong-time Pokemon battle, but to an extreme, forevermore life-altering degree. Transformation fic, will be about 7 chapters, perhaps. Updates every 2 weeks, I do believe.
1. Memories Can't Wait

_DISCLAIMER: Cover art there is by burmalloo of deviantArt. I only wish I was that great at drawing.  
_

_Holy f*** he's actually writing!_

_Yes, I have returned from what one would think was a huge hiatus. And, in a sense, it was. However, it's mainly because I accidentally pushed my PMD story to the back of my mind with a really cool idea for a Nuzlocke story I ended up starting. About 3 chapters into that, I had a random urge one night (a month from tomorrow) to write a transformation story, especially after helping my friend Stolloss a.k.a. Best Beta Reader Ever with an idea he had been pondering. The random number generator he used started on Lairon, which was a 'mon he used using in his story... it then came up with Luxray, which I was about to use before he went ahead and did it again, coming up with Cobalion (who is in my top 3 favorite legendaries, possibly #1)._

_And suddenly Luxray went to the back of my mind. XD_

_I started writing this after an hour of planning with him (it was the longest conversation we'd had this entire year, easily), with the intention to make it a oneshot._

_5,000 words later, I realized that was not going to be the case._

_Sooooooo what I did was essentially treat it as if I was writing a oneshot, putting breaks where necessary and just writing it continuously. I had spurts of writing about 500-1000 words at a time and spurts where I didn't get anything at all done, but by last weekend I had it about halfway, two thirds done. However, this week I absolutely caught fire. I wrote probably 2,000 words just in school on Tuesday, and just wrote the other few thousand in the past couple days, finishing it today. I obviously have to type a lot of it up, then revise all of it to make sure that it's up to standard, but I have the entire story finished and will merely be spacing out the updates here to keep you guys occupied for a while, and in the meantime hopefully get other writing done._

_Anyways, do continue on and read the story; I feel like it has a pretty solid plot from beginning to end (though I need to run the writing itself by Stoll just to make sure, as I've been improvising a bit of the plotting), is most definitely original, and has an ending that's... well, you'll see._

_Have fun, anyways, enjoy that Cobalion monologue, and don't forget to review, subscribe, send me $5, all that fun stuff!_

_See ya in a couple weeks, probably!_

_-Gallade_

* * *

"Come on… Larvesta, you okay there?"

The Fire/Bug didn't respond to her trainer's question, though; her consciousness was fading fast, with the strength to even utter a part of her own name eluding her. Within seconds, she fell into a forced slumber, to wake hours later, after the bruises had healed (as well as the ego).

With a sigh, Thatcher quickly looked over his Larvesta, making sure there were no outstanding contusions or other injuries. Luckily, none existed, and he looked up at his friend (who had already recalled his Zebstrika) with a slight, disappointed smile.

"Arceus dammit, Pryce, I can't remember the last time I beat you…" Thatcher moaned good-naturedly, and Pryce helped him to his feet.

"That's because you haven't since Zebstrika evolved," he said with a wink, and at that Thatcher resignedly dug into his pockets, finally letting his palms see daylight after grabbing the little bit of money he had left; he _was_ the loser, after all.

"Oh man, when Larvesta evolves though, you are so, SO royally fu-"

"Yeah, how many times have I heard that one… Listen, I gotta get back home; mom's expecting me to visit for dinner and spend the night and if I'm late she might not let me back out of the house," Pryce said hurriedly, and Thatcher grinned. His mother _was_ pretty bitchy… especially about being punctual for _everything_. He remembered one occasion where Pryce was about 15 minutes late for dinner; the next time he wanted to come over to Thatcher's house to hang out, he ended up being forced to arrive so late that he wouldn't even get to spend 5 minutes with Thatcher before he had to leave.

Thatcher simply nodded in response, and watched his buddy pocket what was once his own cash. An exasperated sigh escaped his mouth when he finally turned away, and looked down at his Larvesta with disappointment, wondering "Is it you or me… or just both?"

He didn't get the chance to think that over any further.

"Don't you dare move an inch," rose a commanding voice, and Thatcher duly froze. He did, however, swivel his head around to find the source, but couldn't see any other creatures upon searching.

"You dreadful mortal… look at that unfortunate Larvesta before you. You didn't just allow it to get beaten up, you _caused_ it to fall under such a state! I've had hundreds of years of life and I _still _am completely stymied by how vicious you humans are even under daily circumstances…"

Suddenly, twigs snapped and leaves crunched behind Thatcher, though a "I repeat, don't move an inch" inhibited him from looking behind him to see the speaker. However, within seconds he revealed himself, and before he could utter a single word Thatcher was standing in the presence of Cobalion.

"I-I was just having a friendly battle with my friend… Larvesta isn't really hurt, e-eiither… I checked…" he sputtered, and with a huff the leader of the legendary musketeers turned and looked over the Torch Pokemon intently. After half an hour (or half a minute, Thatcher couldn't tell), Cobalion turned back to the man of that borderline high school/college age.

"If your Larvesta 'isn't really hurt,' then why is it unconscious due to exhaustion?"

Thatcher didn't venture to say a single word in reply; he just stared at the legendary before him, startled.

"Also, you must not have checked over your pokemon very closely, as it very clearly has a paralyzed leg or two, plus a wound from that Zebstrika's Stomp that's started to bleed," he continued, as if he were the world's most brusque Nurse Joy. Thatcher's eyes widened, and he broke orders to rush to his 'mon's side, dropping to his knees with right next to the Larvesta. He found the spot to which Cobalion referred relatively quickly, and his shoulders fell in shame as he inspected his pokemon.

"I knew I should have caught that Elgyem when I saw it… then I could have just subbed him in when Larvesta got winded…"

"Or you could have grown up to be a somewhat sentient being compared to the rest of your kind and not done such a disservice to pokemon by incinerating their freedom and coercing them to fight one another like mindless thugs," Cobalion snapped. Thatcher flinched at the verbal gunfire, and his knees buckled just as he was attempting to stand back up. He only barely managed to begin spurting out an apology before he was cut off.

"No mere apology can acquit you of what you've done," the adolescent was told, and at that the Iron Will pokemon strode a couple steps closer, a glare in his eyes to sublimate ice. "Follow me, and take nothing with you."

Thatcher quickly turned towards his Larvesta at this command, but a grunt from the legendary drew him back.

"Take _nothing_ with you. As of right now, your Larvesta is free," he said impassively, staring at the male to ensure he followed orders. "And no, you may not say goodbye. I'll see to it that she stays safe while she's passed out, so she doesn't get preyed upon or harmed in such a way. Just come along."

"B-but why?" Thatcher asked, his tone of voice turning into one of beseeching. "I'll change my ways, I'll never put her in another battle again, or any pokemon for that matter! I-"

"You will do nothing except leave her be and give her a new life," Cobalion barked.

"I swear to you, I'll live without another fight until the day I die…" He was kneeling, and now sat on his feet, looking ready to all but bow to the cobalt crusader before him. Thatcher had spent years with his Larvesta, plus the time he had her egg, and she never once questioned him… all he was left to do now was question himself and beg for forgiveness.

It was amnesty that would never come.

"You humans think that apologies make everything go away, that empty promises for change and puppy dog eyes can just alleviate such situations as this and you can continue with your life, totally unfazed. Well, I'm sorry to inform you that that isn't how I see things should end up. I don't take kindly to humans who go about treating pokemon as inferior, which happens to be the vast majority of you, and I surely don't change my mind about it when they get on their knees and pray that I let them off the hook like a negligent mother. I would have had a much better judgment of you if you simply accepted your fate and came along with me, but here you are, stooping to the level of pleas and pledges…" Cobalion walked right over to Thatcher at this, and stood directly over him patronizingly, almost supercilious. "Stand up, admit that you were wrong, and take your retribution like someone with a shred of dignity left. No apology, no questioning of my authority, and no begging, unless you'd rather me simply lay a Sacred Sword into your gut and eviscerate you in one fell swoop. It wouldn't be the first time, I assure you that."

Thatcher took a minute to take in the monologue, and with every word he digested, his stomach fell further and further into a state of turbulence. He had more than crossed the line with this legend, though unwittingly so, and he was paying the price for it big time… he couldn't even begin to fathom what Cobalion had in store for him. Eternal torture? Thrown into a pit of flames? Life imprisonment? Or perhaps something more mental; maybe he would be forced to become an assassin of sorts, but instead of slaying men of power, as went the stereotype, he would kill his own family under Cobalion's watchful eye. He'd be forced to commit atrocious acts on behalf of the legendary pokemon, thanks to his own rueful behavior. At this point, Thatcher had almost forgotten the transgression; all he cared about was the fact that he had wronged quite wretchedly, and Cobalion was to go to town on him for doing so.

"Pick yourself up, human. I'm cutting your time to dwell upon your moral inadequacies short, as we must get a move on," Cobalion suddenly ordered, and without a word Thatcher finally stood up. His body was trembling slightly, and the corners of his eyes were growing wetter and wetter. As the two walked away, Thatcher glanced back at his Larvesta, a tear finally breaking free of its confines and streaming down his cheek, but a sharp "Eyes ahead" diverted his gaze to the back of Cobalion's head.

It would indeed be the last time he saw Larvesta.

* * *

_Oh yeah, obligatory music reference explaining time:_

_Story name: Just.  
_

_This originates from the Radiohead song of the same name, off their incredible 2nd album __The Bends. The chorus of the song is:_

_"You do it to yourself, you do  
And that's what really hurts  
Is that you do it to yourself  
Just you and no one else  
You do it to yourself  
You do it to yourself"  
_

_I felt like this fits the story in general, throughout the plot, and thus I'm using it as my obligatory music reference title.  
_

_As for the chapter name, it's Memories Can't Wait, which is a song by Talking Heads. I just felt like the name was good here... XD  
_

_But yeah, there's some music for ya to check out. Have fun. And again, review. Seriously, every time someone reviews my story (with a good review), a kitten gets its win- no, wait, err, an angel is bor- ack, no, umm... every time someone leaves a good review on my story, I get the satisfaction of a job well done or constructive criticism to take into account. So there. =P  
_


	2. Transfiguration

_Sorry about being late, it slipped my mind to take the 10 minutes to copypaste the chappy and write my customary A/N. But it's here now!_

_Umm... yeah. So Thatcher has gotten himself into a bit of trouble, it seems. Well, rest assured, it only gets worse for him here! =D_

_I really can't think of what else to say right now. Got stuff in the after-chappy A/N, though, so you better get reading~_

* * *

The trek took about two hours, with Cobalion alternating between walking and trotting and Thatcher alternating between following and trying to keep up. By the time they finally crossed a river to arrive at Mistralton Cave, his feet were screeching for a respite, but the two of them still had to make their way to the bottom of the cave, which would probably take another half hour or so, Thatcher thought.

As he made his way through the dimly lit corridors, though, he took note of something intriguing: all the humans in there were completely unfazed by Cobalion's presence, save for a kid who was sent packing exactly four seconds after he released his Venipede. Cobalion didn't even seem to mind their presence in his territory… When he prodded the legendary about this fact, the reply was candid but enough to get the point across: "They know better."

When they finally reached the pit, Thatcher was ushered into the room ahead of his captor, to ensure no attempts at fleeing like a frightened Rattata.

He turned around to face Cobalion as he took a few steps inside, and asked "Now what? You've got me where you want me, you've stripped me of my partner… what's my punishment? Eternal imprisonment here?"

"Oh no, you're most definitely not staying here. You'll be returning here at night to sleep, perhaps, but you're most definitely going to be wandering Unova during the day, and some nights perhaps." Cobalion ambled a little closer to him, still blocking the exit. Thatcher eyed it for a second, but wiped the futile thought from his mind in an instant. "As for your sentence … take off your clothes."

Thatcher eyed him for a second, and quickly glanced Cobalion over.

"No, you dolt, I'm not out for sexual pleasure. Just remove your garments and get them out of the way," he snapped, sensing Thatcher's uneasiness.

With a sigh, the human did as he was told, and within seconds was fully naked in front of a legendary pokemon, embarrassment more than slightly evident in his expression.

At this, Cobalion's irises seemed to shine faintly, at least for a moment, and Thatcher was immediately transfixed by the stare. Cobalion kept eye contact, but did say "Your penance begins now" before falling totally silent.

The first thing Thatcher noticed to break out of the trance was his spine; more specifically, its increasing curvature. He groaned under its stress, and finally stopped looking at the Iron Will pokemon when his backbone snapped along with other bones, completely changing the way he stood. His extremities' bones cracked and shifted, growing more robust and changing their angles and joints. He yelped at this, with no reaction from Cobalion but the same staunch stare.

The next things Thatcher felt were pressures at both his shoulders (or where they used to be) and the lower back. Unceremoniously, steel blades burst forth from those spots seconds later, shaped almost like fins of a fish. The shoulder blades, he noticed, had a golden hue, whilst his new tail was a sort of light blue. He started to grow fur on his legs at this point as well, spanning two shades of blue and including a black band running around each one to separate the blues. He gasped for air, unable to comprehend what was happening to him with his mind racing as much as it was, and once again looked to Cobalion for Arceus knew what.

He suddenly felt his neck extend upwards, and when that ceased he was standing what he imagined to be seven feet tall… and was now level with Cobalion, whereas before the legendary had been looking down upon him quite a bit. Meanwhile, his feet and hands had swelled up massively, with no digits on any of them. They were replaced by what almost seemed to be black boots, but in actual foot form. As the fur-sprouting pores grew in number and multiplied beyond his legs, it suddenly hit Thatcher what he was becoming: a Cobalion himself.

Eyes wide now, he tried to speak, saying "Y-you… you're turn- ack!" He was cut off by his own shifting body, as his vocal chords suddenly froze up, rendering him speechless for the time being. His head was spinning anyways, so the chances of him completing the sentence with or without the vocal cord morphing were slim to begin with. His legs were fully azure now, barring the black band and feet, and his upper and lower bodies were done as well, with the fins completely grown and everything down to the spots on his hips exact to specifications. All that was left now was the head… starting with the snout Thatcher was growing.

His head slowly shifted into a more triangular shape to help with this, and he felt his eyes sharpen. His vision blacked out for a second, but when he shook it off and opened his eyes, he was shocked by the drastic increase in quality. It was like going from a 24" television from the 90's to a 60" HD TV, and he studied himself intently to test his new powers of eyesight. As he did so, a white tuft of fur grew from his neck down, and his nose reached a pointed end where he could somewhat see it in front of him. Finally, he sensed horns extending from just above his eyes, matching the oddly-shaped and tan ones that the Cobalion across from him possessed. With a final shiver, the physical transformation finished, and Thatcher was 100% Cobalion.

"You are impressed with my power, no?" the original Cobalion asked, and Thatcher absentmindedly nodded, still studying himself. If he had any fingers or claws, he would have pinched himself. "Well, in the next few hours your actual powers pertaining to attacks and other legendary abilities should develop, though you should already instinctively know Sacred Sword."

"Wh-" Thatcher coughed, then finally asked the key question. "Why turn me into… you?" He shuddered a little after the query; his voice sounded exactly like Cobalion's, a foreign sound that made him ill just thinking about the fact that it was now his.

Cobalion gave a single laugh, which Thatcher just knew couldn't be good, and neither was the fact that the Steel/Fighting type was walking towards him. Up close, he could tell that the 'mon still had an inch or two on him heightwise.

"You shall see… I will just say that you'll learn a couple lessons this way," he said, which only led to a follow-up question from Thatcher.

"So, uhm, is this… is this just temporary, like, until I learn the error of my ways and all, or-"

"This is permanent. You will be a Cobalion for the rest of your life, human. Or, ex-human," Cobalion cut in, nonchalantly telling his fate as it was. Immediately the newly transformed pokemon's mood sank even further, devastated that life as he knew it was officially gone with the wind. First he lost his pokemon, now his livelihood…

"Now then, if you have no more questions, I instruct you to leave the cave and simply meander. Deal with whatever situations arise, avoid getting caught by a human at all costs, and when the sun goes down you may return here to slumber for the night. Don't do anything out of line, either, because I will be keeping an eye on you… you must represent your new species well, you know. If a Pokemon comes to you for help, or you see a human doing something ridiculous, I trust you to step in and do the right thing."

Only now did he step aside and let him through the exit. The most recent legendary stared at him like he was just given a diagnosis of terminal cancer, then started out with an exhale.

"Wait! I did forget one thing," Cobalion suddenly declared, pulling Thatcher back into the room with the electromagnetic tug of his words.

"From this point onwards, your name is hereby Kato," he stated, yet another ultimatum of sorts.

"What?"

"Your name is now Kato, and whatever it was before is now null, just as your life before this one is." The suddenly renamed pokemon felt like this was just another dagger in the coffin for him, with his entire identity now perished, and stood there with slightly trembling tree-trunk legs.

"Kato…?"

"Yes. It means 'Good judgment,' something I find befitting for my species. Our species."

Kato grit his teeth at those two words… looking down his now elongated nose, he flinched at the thought that he was now one and the same as his captor.

"And if you must know, my name is Kyros… which stands for 'Leader and master.' Now then, off you go." The Cobalion shooed him away with a foot, then turned around and headed deeper into the room to tend to his own business, leaving Kato to escort himself out.

As he left, he passed by a pair of hikers, who smiled somewhat and bowed in respect to him. Unable to think of how to respond, he simply kept on towards the exit. It was yet another sign of contrast between his life a half hour ago and now, and they were all conspiring to send him towards a bout with black-hole depression.

* * *

_AW SHIT HE'S A F***IN' COBALION NOW WHAT THE F*** IS GALLADE DOING TO THIS POOR KID._

_Seriously though, Kyros is fricking _mean. _TF's him, then tells him it's permanent, then just slaps a new name on him and kicks him out until nightfall. What a dick._

_I'm just going to use this line to say that I downloaded Ty Segall's new album, __Twins__, yesterday, and that it is the bee's knees, if by "bee's knees" I mean f***ing golden. Distorted guitars, 60's psych rock and garage rock, raw and free-flowing energy and yet that sense that he knows exactly what he's doing... might be my album of the year this year, and that's beating out albums by my two favorite bands._

_Almost used "Give Me Back My Name" by Talking Heads as the title of this chapter, but I went with the simpler "Transfiguration" by grunge legends Screaming Trees. Either of them coulda worked though._

Anyways, hope you enjoyed, and please do all that fun stuff people always urge you to do. Except if you review,**I beseech you to make it a good review. There are few things on this site that make me cringe as much as either irrelevant reviews or crappy one-liner reviews, or both, and I hate to see the review page of this story marred by such blemishes. If you're gonna praise me or comment or criticize, make it good, please, because it benefits everyone that way.**^_^


	3. Wild Wild Life

_I'm a terrible person._

_Okay, not really, school ate me alive. To reference Whose Line Is It Anyway, I was swallowed by a whale, and escaped by running all the way until I was pooped out. =P_

_Buuuuut whatevs. I have the chapter now, and I have it Aggron-approved, so here it is, after far too long!_

* * *

It took all of 20 minutes for Kato to find himself in a bad situation.

He was simply wandering the forest, taking in the sights, and, of course, agonizing about his situation when he heard voices behind him.

"Look, it's Cobalion!"

"Whoa, dude, you should totally try to catch him…"

He cringed, recalling Kyros's warning to avoid being captured, and without thinking dashed away recklessly.

"Nooo, he's getting away! Run run run!" he picked up from behind him, and in turn picked up the pace. He was briefly amazed at his speed, something far surpassing what he had as a human, but the moment's panic cut that thought off as soon as it surfaced. However, it was indeed this new characteristic of his that allowed him to escape from the humans with relative ease…

And had him running right into another group of humans.

He quickly cut 90 degrees to his right, but not without attracting the attention of the group. Within a couple of seconds, the trainers had ordered their respective pokemon after him, and when Kato looked back, he nearly choked on his own saliva.

A Mienshao and Simisear were the ones chasing him, both possessing a type advantage over his Cobalion self.

"Ohhhh this isn't good…" he panted to himself, seeing them catching up somewhat gradually behind him. Once the Simisear got to within several yards away, Kato saw him building up a Flame Burst and whipped right back around to avoid an especially large tree. Right after doing so, he planted his back right foot for a split second and made a sharp cut to his left as the attack was released, and sprang off with a couple feet to spare. However, the Mienshao was now right on his tail, and the Simisear quickly began charging up a Fire Blast just seconds afterwards, apparently quite a ways over on the aggressive side of the spectrum.

Kato thought for a second on how to shake them, but only an idea quite outlandish in its premise surfaced, to his slight chagrin.

He did it anyways.

Right as the Simisear finished preparing his strike, Kato turned 180 degrees and with his legs grabbed the Mienshao, dragging him in front of him as he began backpedaling. The Fire-type couldn't hold back the move in time, and thus Kato successfully used one of his pursuers as a shield, letting it absorb the brunt of the attack before tossing the pokemon at the monkey, where it fell unconscious upon hitting the ground. The Simisear barely dodged the projectile, but was visibly rattled by the sudden shift in momentum. Kato simply faced forward once again and darted ahead, putting a good amount of distance between him and the somewhat winded follower before he sucked in his gut and burst ahead after him.

"I-I just… Arceus, that was pretty sick…" Kato told himself, a bit proud to have pulled such a stunt off. He kept on, though, with the Fire-type still behind him. He was completely unfamiliar with the area, and as he dodged a Flamethrower by the skin of his sharp new teeth, his eyes darted around in search for landmarks or opportunities. He spotted one in the form of a somewhat large stream, measuring a few yards wide, he guessed. Checking behind him, the Cobalion suddenly accelerated towards the little creek, and once he reached it he leapt over, sliding on the landing a tad before turning around to see the Simisear just arriving then.

With a deep intake of breath Kato reared back his head on instinct, swinging forward after a split second's pause. He struck the monkey square in the gut as it jumped across, a grunt escaping Kato's mouth as he cut his pursuer down. The pokemon plunged into the water like a bird shot out of the sky, and thanks to his typing, the Sacred Sword combining with the effects of the brook weakened him profusely. Meanwhile, the legendary stood there overlooking the Simisear, and when it finally got out of the water on the other side, it made eye contact with him, shuddered, and turned around to skulk back to its trainer. He didn't budge until he was sure that he wasn't to be pursued anymore, though, but proceeded to trot away a little ways before stopping to really look himself over.

The first thing Kato noticed when he really stopped to take stock of his situation for the first time was the power. He had sort of cluelessly thought about it right after his transformation, but now it really struck him… he was a Cobalion; a legendary pokemon, and now that he'd been out for a while he could really feel the sheer might exploding out of him. He felt like he could jump a dozen feet high effortlessly, or that he could slay an oak just on a whim... much as he hated to admit it, this was something he really had to like about being who he was now.

He shook the thought off, though, and looked to the sky through the canopy of trees, seeing that the sun was firmly in the west by this point and probably had about an hour or two before sunset. Before he could make a decision on what to do, however, he heard footsteps at 9 o'clock, and flinched as he turned. However, it was merely a Mienfoo dashing towards him, with what Kato took to be a worried expression on its countenance.

"Oh Arceus, Cobalion, thank goodness you're around!" she panted. If Kato was human, he would have raised an eyebrow. "I need your help, sir, badly. I was simply minding my own business, collecting wood for my family, when a pair of humans started intruding on us… th-they kicked me around, then had their pokemon beat up my mother until they caught her in one of their Pokeballs! I've still got a long time before I'll be strong enough to go out on my own, not to mention how much I have to learn about the world from her… I need her back, my superior, please!"

Kato was, to say the least, caught off guard by this (the situation, as well as the fact that he was being addressed as "sir" and "my superior"). He didn't expect to have to do something like this, though now that he pondered it it made sense. Cobalion and the Musketeers were (in)famous for their vendetta against humans, so naturally, 'mons that had issues with them would come to the Musketeers for help. Still, he was completely unprepared for this situation… but knew what he had to do, lest his captor be watching.

"Lead me to where you think they headed off," Kato answered unemotionally, and the Mienfoo bowed before him, then turned and ran off, leaving the Cobalion to follow her. The Mienfoo had taken off at top speed to try and make sure the humans didn't get away, which left her follower at a pretty decent gallop as they hustled through the forest. Before too long, however, they reached a clearing with a road, and when Kato looked over at an incline to which the road led, he saw two figures ambling along.

"That's them there!" Mienfoo pointed out, and the legend nodded in reply before ducking back into the forest a little ways to keep cover. He felt a little odd having to do this task, especially since he would be obliged to treat the humans pretty badly… he supposed it was a good thing he had taken theater in school a little bit before he went off on his adventure that had now turned awry.

It wasn't long before Kato reached the pair, and with a deep sigh he strode out, asking "Where do you think you're going, humans?"

They froze, swiveling their heads in unison towards the sound of his voice, and the nanosecond they identified the speaker as a Cobalion, they cringed in unison as well. Kato did his best to keep a straight face, but as he looked into the forest behind them, he nearly made like the pair in front of him.

Kyros's stern gaze was fixed directly on him, making sure his apparent acolyte was doing his job correctly. Surprised, Kato gulped, then looked back down at the humans. Kato's mind started racing as he spoke, trying his best to channel a Cobalion when it was he himself being given such a lecture not long ago.

"I believe you two have something that you just stole?" he asked, prompting them to glance at each other.

"Uh, umm, I didn't steal anything, umm, Cobalion, sir, I promise!" spoke one boy, who was short and stocky, with shaved blond hair. Kato glanced at the Pokeballs on his belt, spotting a Mienshao as the second of four.

"Really…?" he huffed. "Try telling that to the Mienfoo who just had his mother swept away by a pair of humans!" At this, the boy who had caught the Fighting-type shrunk back, looking completely guilty… and vulnerable. He seemed to be succeeding so far with his goal, but Kato still looked back up at Kyros for a second while the transgressors cowered, maybe trying to see what to do next. On cue, Kyros picked his front legs up and slammed them together menacingly in reference to the duo.

He wanted no mercy, and Kato had no choice but to consent, lest he face even more retribution than having his entire life stripped away.

"I-I didn't know… I was just catching another Pokemon so I could head off to the next Gym Leader after some trai-"

"Really now? First you find the cruelty to pry away a mother from her son for your own selfish needs… then you lie to ME about it? Not to mention the fact that you so horridly decided to beat up the son before carrying out such an act…" Kato's speech was a little bit off-kilter from Kyros's, not flowing perfectly and with a possible word choice or two that didn't fit, but he was starting to get it… not to mention that the two at whom his supposed wrath was aimed were most definitely feeling the heat.

"Oh shit, we're in trouble now…" the main offender whispered to his friend, and at this Kato picked up his front two legs and shoved one each into both boys' guts, putting them on their backs in a flash.

"Why yes, yes you are in trouble…" Kato spat, standing over them menacingly. "But then, when thugs like you two try to pull such wicked deeds, it's very much deserving of consequences."

"Wh-what consequences?" the other boy, silent up until this point, asked.

"Release all your pokemon. Set them free from the prisons you have placed them in," Kato ordered. The teenagers' eyes widened, but a simple stomp of his front right leg had them fishing out all their capsules. "And stand yourselves while you're at it." After grabbing their pokemons' storage devices (four from the main wrongdoer and two from his buddy), they lifted themselves to their feet and depressed a hidden button on each of the capsules, setting them to emancipate the creatures from their command. Almost all at once, they tossed out their pokemon, who immediately sensed something was different. When they caught notice of Cobalion, though, they knew instantly what had happened. Most smiled and nodded, happy to be free once again. One Blitzle, though, looked a bit sad to be departing from her trainer, glancing back at him with an increasingly moist tear duct.

"It's okay, you'll be better off on your own, young one…" Kato assured, even adding in an earnest look (though a smile was admittedly hard to pull off for a Cobalion). This did indeed seem to calm her nerves, and she too dashed off, leaving just the three of them and the silent supervisor in the woods.

"Now, did you see how pleased they looked to be freed from you?" he questioned, and after a second of thought they both nodded. "That's the main reason I will tell you to never catch another pokemon in your lifetime, and to respect them and treat them as equals. If you can do that, you'll automatically be better than the majority of your brethren, at least in that regard. But then, the other reason that you must never disturb another pokemon…"

Kato suddenly reared back, then struck both simultaneously with a Sacred Sword, eliciting surprised exclamations of pain from both. They collapsed to the ground, now physically and somewhat mentally bruised, and he put a foot on each of their respective waists.

"…is because disturbing other pokemon means disturbing me, and disturbing me means that I disturb your groins so badly that getting laid will be a pipe dream at best for both of you. Got it?" He put all his weight on his front legs at this for emphasis, and coerced agreement out of the two, who looked genuinely spooked by this point.

"Ah yes, and one more thing," Kato said after glancing back at Kyros for direction. The Cobalion was looking very much satisfied, and with hints of a smile he made one more motion. "Both of you must pledge to praise and worship Arceus as your god."

He lifted his feet after telling them this, stepping back, and they looked at each other once more. He asked them if they agreed to the term, his gaze steely. It was a very much weighty demand, but neither of them seemed to be overly religious.

"Umm… sure, I guess…" came one reply, whilst the other was just a silent affirmation.

"Bow before me, then," Kato barked. "Prove to me that you have changed."

Both of them slowly sat up, but simply stared at him.

"I said BOW!" Kato snarled loudly, and this sent both of them into the dogeza position. The legend stared down at both of them, completely submissive before him now, and felt a twinge of power. _He_ had forced them into this… they were troublemakers before, and now he had them bowing before him, had them treating him as a god. It was… different, to say the least. Feeling a bit overcome by this, he continued.

"Tell me you aren't worthy," he said, and the reply was monotone, slightly muffled by the ground: "I am not worthy."

"Very good. Now, tell me who your ultimate power is, who you answer to, who your divine being is."

"Arceus."

"Excellent. Stand up, both of you." They did as they were told, wills crushed, and Kato continued. "I have no more to do to you. I trust that you have learned your lessons, and now leave you to your own devices… live your life the way it should be now, and I will be impressed. Disobey me, and any threats I made earlier will be anything but idle. Do you understand?" Kato almost seemed to grin at this.

"Yes sir, Cobalion," they replied, heads down. He finally let them go, and with the same expression he trotted over to Kyros. As he reached him, though, he looked back at the boys, pondering what he had said, what he had done… something felt very off-kilter, but very right at the same time…

"You did very well, Kato, most definitely… how do you feel?" Kyros asked, his tone of voice surprisingly pleased. Kato had never heard him this way, obviously.

"Umm… I feel pretty decent, I guess… I feel like I let myself get carried away too much, though. I mean, I just randomly used Sacred Swo-"

"They deserved it," Kyros interjected. "And you had no faults in 'getting carried away.' In fact, you improved drastically as the situation progressed… You really broke their spirits, Kato, but you reconstructed them, and they're better off because of it."

Kato shuddered when he mentioned this, though. He was right: he had just completely, forcibly changed two humans, obliging them to convert their religious views and release their friends… what they had done was wrong, but he was still uncomfortable with the effect he had on them just by confronting them… not to mention that moment in time where he really let himself go. That power he felt was almost intoxicating, whatever it was, and as Kato followed Kyros back to the cave, he told himself to take note of it.

He'd try to avoid making the same mistakes as he had back there. No way he was letting that power take the wheel again.

* * *

_Not much to say, except that I'll be more on-time next update, and that this chapter was named "Wild Wild Life" after the awesome Talking Heads song. 3_

_Oh, and that Over and Over, I Feel Better and Ready For the Floor by Hot Chip, Satan Said Dance by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Global Concepts by Robert DeLong are all catchy and awesome as hell and that you should go listen to them. Esp. that first one. Holy shit. So goddamn catchy._


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